In the image of God

Shakespeare once wrote in his play "As You Like It": The whole world is a stage and we humans are only mere players on it! The longer I think about this and the words of God in the Bible, the more clearly I see that there is something to this statement. We all seem to live our lives from a script written in our heads, a script with an open ending. Whoever we meet writes the script a little further. Whether it's the teachers at school telling us we'll never get anywhere, or our revered parents telling us we're born for more. The effects are the same. If we trust the script, we will try to implement it for better or for worse. But now our life is very real. Our heartfelt pain and bitter tears shed are not those of an actor on stage. They are real tears, our pain is real too. We like to pinch ourselves to find out if we've had a nightmare or not. Most of the time we have to face the bitter reality that everything is actually true. Our life does not follow a predetermined script. everything is real

Understand the script

The original script for our lives was written by God Himself. At the very beginning of the Bible we read: «Let us make man in our likeness» (1. Mose 1,26). According to this scripture, we were created in the image of the one true God who is our Creator, that we might be like him.

After Will Smith was offered the role of Muhammad Ali, he would spend countless hours in the gym trying to resemble not just any boxer but Muhammad himself. I remember reading that Smith put himself through heavy boxing and weight training to to feel like a boxer and to cherish images of young Ali from his childhood, only to end up being completely like him. He did it in a way only Will Smith could. As an actor, he was so good in his role that he was nominated for an Oscar. Too bad he didn't get it! You see, once you understand the script, you can do whatever it takes to convey it convincingly on film. Unfortunately, humanity's script got off to a bad start because it was tampered with.

After man was created in the image of God to be like him, another actor came on stage a little later and changed the script. The serpent said to Eve: "You will by no means die, but God knows that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God and you will know what is good and what is evil" (1. Mose 3,4-5).

The biggest lie of all time

What was the lie used to fool Eva? It is often said that the lie is in the words of the devil: You will not die at all. I've been studying the story of Adam for a long time lately, and I don't think so. The true and greatest lie, the lie of all time, the lie of all lies, put into the world by the father of lies himself, was: as soon as you eat of it, your eyes will be opened; you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad! As we have read, human beings were created in the image of God to be like him. Only after they ate the fruit of that tree in the middle of the garden did they differ from him. The devil knew that human beings were like God. However, he also knew that the only way he could change the whole script for mankind was if he could make people believe they were unlike the Creator. Unfortunately, his tactic caught on with them. Humans were created with an inherent moral code. They didn't have to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to know what is good and what is not. «They prove that the work of the law is written in their hearts; Their conscience bears witness to them, as do their thoughts, which accuse one another or excuse one another" (Romans 2,15).

From that day on we differed from God. Our relationship with him was disrupted because we no longer resembled him. Since then, people have tried again and again to be like him. However, since we did not create ourselves, we cannot restore ourselves to the old state either. If part of the ear falls off a statue, the statue cannot pick it up and return it to its original position. Only the sculptor himself can do that. It's the same with us. We are like clay in the hands of God. It is He who created us in His image from the beginning, and it is He who can restore us. He sent Jesus so that he might come to give us his salvation; the same Jesus who also healed the severed ear of the servant of the high priest (Luke 22,50-51).

How does our Heavenly Father restore to us that original state of creation? He does this by showing us the image of himself in which he created us. To this end he sent Jesus: "He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation" (Colossians 1,15).

The letter to the Hebrews explains this to us in more detail: "He is the reflection of his glory, and the likeness of his nature" (Hebrews 1,3). Jesus, then, who was God himself, in whose image we were created, came to earth in our human form to reveal God to us. The devil is not finished with us, but God is with him (John 19,30). He is still using the same lies that he used against our ancestors Adam and Eve. His purpose is still to pretend that we are not like God: "To the unbelievers, whose minds the god of this world has blinded them from seeing the bright light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2. Corinthians 4,4). When Paul speaks of unbelievers here, some believers still do not believe that we have been restored through Jesus Christ to the reflection of our heavenly Father.

transformed

In Jesus Christ we are reconciled to God and become again in his image. Men now have a part in being made in the image of the Son of God and need do nothing to attain it. We don't have to eat the sweet fruit of faith to be like God, we are like Him now.

Each one of us will be transformed into the original image of glory. Paul says it this way: "But we all, with face unveiled, reflect the glory of the Lord, and we are being changed into his image from one glory to another by the Lord who is the Spirit" (2. Corinthians 3,18). Through His indwelling Spirit, our Heavenly Father transforms us into the image of His Son in glory.

Now that we have been restored to our original likeness in and through Jesus Christ, we are to take to heart the words of James: “Make no mistake, beloved. Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of Light, in whom there is no change, nor alternation of light and darkness. He gave birth to us according to his will, through the word of truth, that we might be the firstfruits of his creatures" (James 1,16-18).

Nothing but good gifts, only perfect gifts come from above, from the creator of the stars. Before we look in the mirror, we should be aware of who we are and what our identity is. The Word of God promises us that we are a new creature: «Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come" (2. Corinthians 5,17).

Do we see in the mirror who and what we are and do we behave accordingly in the world? In the mirror we see the masterpiece and contemplate what God has created anew in Christ. That's why we can't just walk away and forget what we look like. Because when we behave in this way, we are like a person who is ready for the wedding, stands in front of the mirror fully dressed and sees his appearance beautiful and pure, but then forgets his appearance. One who goes into his garage, slips under his car to fix it, and then wipes oil and grease off his white suit. “For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his fleshly face in a mirror; for after he has looked at himself, he goes away and from that hour forgets what he looked like” (James 1,23-24).

How absurd! How sad! Don't believe the lie! The original script reads: You are the son of the living God or you are the daughter of the living God. He made you new in Christ. You are a new creation. "For we are his work, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2,10).

So the next time you look in the mirror, you will see God's newly created masterpiece in Christ. Prepare to act accordingly. You want to keep the image of Jesus in you!

by Takalani Musekwa